LB Dontavious Jackson (Feb 12) - Comm FSU 02-03

Godz40acres

Godz40acres

Happy Feller
dontavious jackson.jpg


Dontavious Jackson ..... Alief Elsik (Houston, TX)
4-star ..... ILB ..... 6-3/235 ..... FSU​

Per IT:
This kid is huge. He's built to be a Saban linebacker who can reach any play between the tackles and then stonewall runners with his size and power. For Texas, he's a true mike linebacker who has some real speed when he starts coming downhill. He'd be nasty in UT's blitz package... or if he grows to 260+, he could become a DL/LB hybrid in the mold of Courtney Upshaw.

When you build an inside linebacker in your mind, this is the way he comes out looking. Big, athletic, can make plays from sideline to sideline, and carries a violent disposition... [Y]ou find a way to get him on the field.

He's the top ILB around and really digs Texas. Not to mention he fits a need position. Eric [Nahlin] has told us he's the leanest of Longhorn leans.

Per 247Sports on his performance at The Opening in Arlington:
It's not so much his drops or his technique in general that was most impressive, it was Jackson's quickness and instincts, along with his ability to move his feet and mirror receivers that was most impressive. Long story short, he's not a stiff C gap-to-C gap middle linebacker who could be liability on passing downs, but he looked like a big linebacker who can be on the field for three downs.
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247Sports talked to Jackson about his weekend trip to Austin:
"I loved it," Jackson said. "I loved the intensity at practice. Everyone was practicing with passion, and I even saw a couple of fights break out. That's what I like to see, so it was definitely intense. All the coaches were really welcoming. I had a great time."

Texas has a great environment. From the coaches to the leaders on the team, they all showed a lot of passion and were focused on getting better. That's what I want," Jackson said. "I need an intense coach. Wherever I go, I need a coach to help me succeed. I don't need a friend. I want a coach that can help me reach my goals and prepare me for the next level."
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"I need a coach that can help me succeed. I don't need a friend."

You will get that with CS.

We need more hostile, mobile, angry, nasty, physical, violent and intimidating !!!:hookem:
 
Per Scout:
Jackson is a true middle linebacker and brings to the table the skills you are looking for at the position. He's a pretty physical player and has good size to stand up to down to down punishment in the middle of a defense. He diagnoses the play quickly and is tough to block. He gets downhill quickly, showing great vertical quickness to get to ball carriers. He is at his best against the run. He runs through tackles and is a sure finisher.
 
WorsterMan said:
"I need a coach that can help me succeed. I don't need a friend."

You will get that with CS.

We need more hostile, mobile, angry, nasty, physical, violent and intimidating !!!:hookem:
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Yes we do! "Only angry people win football games." DKR
 
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LB Dontavious Jackson on his recent visit to Texas: “Really, I’ve been up there so much. I was mostly just chilling with the staff.

“It’s more getting comfortable with the coaches and the incoming players. I have a good relationship with the players that are already there. So it was just the incoming players like DeShon Elliott, P.J. Locke, guys like that. I have pretty good relationships with them.”

On what stands out about Texas: “First of all the legacy of the school. It’s one of the top schools in college football history. And the coaching staff, they know what they’re doing. Coach Strong is a winner. Wherever he goes, he’s going to win. Whether it takes a season or three seasons, he’s going to win. The community, everyone around there is tight about the school, they’re in touch with the school and the players. And the players are just so welcoming. They treat me like a little brother.

On where Texas sees him: “Mike LB – I kind of call myself a rarity. You don’t find guys my size who can move as well as me and also know the game as well as me. I’m really a diamond in the rough, I’m just trying to find the school I can grow the most.”
[Link]
 
As a coach in the Houston area that has had to game plan for Elsik. You definitely want to know where #5 is going to be lined up. Even then you may not have a chance. With Elsk's team speed we thought we had a better chance running right at them. For the most part it worked, except for one factor. Not only does this cat have the strength to take on blockers, shed and make tackles, but he also has a knack of avoiding altogether. In 20 years of coaching the sport, i can't think of too many that has been better at the HS level. Will he succeed at the next level? With his attitude and work ethic, definitely!!!
 
JDubya2463 said:
As a coach in the Houston area that has had to game plan for Elsik. You definitely want to know where #5 is going to be lined up. Even then you may not have a chance. With Elsk's team speed we thought we had a better chance running right at them. For the most part it worked, except for one factor. Not only does this cat have the strength to take on blockers, shed and make tackles, but he also has a knack of avoiding altogether. In 20 years of coaching the sport, i can't think of too many that has been better at the HS level. Will he succeed at the next level? With his attitude and work ethic, definitely!!!
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Awesome first post - Thanks, JDubya.

And welcome to the board. We welcome all experts here. :)
:ut:
I've coveted DJ ever since we offered him. He'll be a great addition in the middle and allow MJ to move on out to his place of comfort and destruction.
 
Godz40acres said:
Awesome first post - Thanks, JDubya.

And welcome to the board. We welcome all experts here. :)
:ut:
I've coveted DJ ever since we offered him. He'll be a great addition in the middle and allow MJ to move on out to his place of comfort and destruction.
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No expert here...just an ol ball coach that can recognize ability. This kid has it in bunches. The thing that impresses me most about him is that he has a Mike Singletary type of switch. He can be the nastiest toughest SOB on the field, and still be a good guy off of it. My son has played against him as a fullback the last two years. He won a few battles against him, but lost several as well. Dontavious would find him after the games and pat him on the back, and tell him what a tough competitor he was.
 
Has 2 OVs left, we should get one.

Jean-Mary and Vaughn visted him last week. “It was cool," Jackson said. "My mom made some dinner for them. They ate some of my food and spoke with my mom. We just had some great conversation.”
 
Dontavious Jackson might not be taking an official visit to Texas, but that doesn’t mean the Longhorns have fallen off his list. Jackson was never sure if he wanted to use one of his five official visits on Texas because he wanted to get a closer look at out of state schools on their dime. He visited Texas a handful of times in the summer and fall and is extremely familiar with the Forty Acres.

“Every time I go up there, it feels like family,” Jackson said. “I’ve been up there so many times. I already feel like I’m a part of that Texas family.”

Jackson said he wanted to make an unofficial visit to Texas at some point before National Signing Day. He used three official visits on UCLA, Florida State and Michigan a few months ago and will use his final two on Alabama and Florida after the dead period.

Texas assistants Chris Vaughn and Brian Jean-Mary have been working overtime on Jackson as of late and stopped by for an in-home visit last month, where the three continued to build on “comfortability” — the main factor in his recruitment.

“Coach BJ and Coach Vaughn came and they ate my mom’s food up,” Jackson said with a laugh. “She cooked some Texas chili! But yeah, I feel really comfortable around those two.”

Vaughn and Jean-Mary also exchanged messages with Jackson before he took part in the Under Armour All-America Game last week. “I talked to Coach BJ, and I talked to Coach Vaughn before I came out here,” Jackson said. “They told me to come out here and do my thing and be confident in my ability and stuff like that. They gave me a little pep talk.”

Jackson does not plan on making his final decision until National Signing Day, so there is still plenty of time for head coach Charlie Strong to jump in as well and help close the deal. When asked if he had any concerns about Strong’s future, Jackson had this to say: “No,” Jackson said. “That man is going to keep his job. He just needs that one more class to push that team along.”

[Per another poster]
 
Dontavious Jackson likes to play things close to the vest. The four-star Alief Elsik linebacker is witty, charismatic and pretty hilarious when he talks about his recruitment. Still, Jackson makes sure not to give away too many details. But in between talking about UT coaches eating his mom’s chili, the aesthetically pleasing UCLA cheerleaders and Everest College, Jackson gave one very key quote: “I already feel like a part of the Texas family.” While Chris Vaughn and Brian Jean-Mary have been making a strong push, Texas’ most important recruiter might be freshman linebacker Malik Jefferson.

“I talk to Malik almost every day,” Jackson said. “We have a group message with a lot of Texas recruits like Jeff (McCulloch), Eric (Cuffee) and Jean (Delance), and we just talk. It’s really cool. We don’t just talk about football. We chop it up.” Jefferson was a key recruiter for Texas in the 2015 cycle after he committed, and his name alone still carries plenty of weight in the 2016 class. Jefferson has preached early playing time and being part of a special future in Austin. But Jefferson, much like Charlie Strong, isn’t trying to get Jackson to jump on board now. Instead, he’s strategically slipping away. “I wouldn’t say he’s a better recruiter than Coach Vaughn, but he’s up there,” Jackson said with a laugh. “He just gets me more because he’s closer to my age. He gives me a lot of good advice because he just went through the process.”

Texas is in very good position with Jackson, but schools like Alabama, Michigan and Florida State are all legitimate threats. The Seminoles have risen quickly on Jackson’s list because of recruiter Tim Brewster, who helped lure Vince Young to Texas. “Brewster is one of the coolest coaches ever,” Jackson said. “We talk three or four times a week. He’s straight up. The swagger he carries himself with, I can relate to it. I like his personality. I like how he brings himself upon you.” Jackson plans on making unofficial visits to both Florida State and Texas before he makes his decision on National Signing Day.

A source on the Florida State side of things had this to say about Jackson:

“Brewster is very confident. (Florida State commits) Levonta Taylor and Naseir Upshur think he’s coming. I’m just skeptical. FSU doesn’t do well in Texas.”

[Per another poster]
 
Reading some rumblings that DJax likes Texas, likes Strong, but may end up at FSU.

If this does happen, I might just...

latest
 
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Per TFB:
When people talk about [DB] Chris Brown they think of his teammate, 4-star LB Dontavious Jackson who plans to take his final official visit to Alabama next weekend but I was told that there is a pretty good chance he takes an unofficial visit to Texas on January 31st. It would be great to get Jackson to visit Texas with Brown this weekend, but the coaching staff just needs to get him on campus before NSD to have a chance. Texas HC Charlie Strong had an in-home visits with both Brown and Jackson last night.
 
He claims he plans to major in business.....Texas should be his choice, if that is true. No better place than McCombs if you are planning a business degree.
 
D-Jax seems to have been enjoying his trip this weekend to Austin. I believe his mom joins today, to meet Charlie etc. I had thought earlier that this one was pretty much over, but Charlie never lets up. Heck, he might pull D-Jax off too. That would be fantastic, wouldn't it?
 
jayakris said:
D-Jax seems to have been enjoying his trip this weekend to Austin. I believe his mom joins today, to meet Charlie etc. I had thought earlier that this one was pretty much over, but Charlie never lets up. Heck, he might pull D-Jax off too. That would be fantastic, wouldn't it?
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Over? It's never over with Charlie. Seriously, Djax considering FSU?
 
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